The reality of slavery
Sandy Ground
Historical Society hosts screening of documentary partially filmed
at Richmond Town
Staten Island Advance - February 17, 2005
The image on the Williamson Theater screen at the
College of Staten Island last night depicted a 19th century black
slave being repeatedly whipped for trying to escape from his
plantation.
When his master completed the beating by throwing a bucketful of
salt water on the fresh wounds -- the audience of 200 gasped and
cringed.
"The visual makes it real for so many people," said Sylvia
D'Alessandro, executive director of Sandy Ground Historical Society.
Sandy Ground in Rossville is the site of the nation's oldest free
black settlement.
The society was hosting a live screening of the second half of the
PBS TV documentary "Slavery and the Making of America," a four-part
series in which it participated. It was partially filmed at Historic
Richmond Town, using a handful of local actors.
"We need to understand the human element," said Ms. D'Alessandro, an
Advance Woman of Achievement. "We're not talking about slaves. We're
talking about enslaved people."
The documentary was an attempt to do just that: To humanize.
The focus was on individuals and their suffering -- relatively
unknown figures such as Harriet Jacobs and Robert Smalls -- and
telling their stories in the context of the social and economic
realities that helped make slavery an institution.
"We're learning about people we've never heard about," said Julie
Moody Lewis, vice president of the society, and Ms. D'Alessandro's
daughter. "It's a lot of information, a lot of learning, and it
gives us a different perspective."
Parts one and two of the series, which were aired Feb. 9, explored
the emergence of slavery in America in the 1600s and its expansion
throughout the 1700s and into the 1800s.
In last night's episodes, part three portrayed slavery in the
mid-1800s through about 1860, and part four documented the role
African-Americans played in the Civil War, as well as the realities
of Emancipation.
The fourth part of the series was filmed in Richmond Town because
PBS found its buildings -- which date back three centuries -- and
its pastoral-like setting were a fitting representation of America
in the 1800s.
Once the site was selected, Richmond Town officials contacted Sandy
Ground in search of actors.
Out of the 50 people who responded to the casting call in 2003, a
dozen were selected. Of those, five were Staten Islanders, including
Ms. Lewis, who portrayed Smalls' wife.
"It was such a moving experience to be part of the production," said
Ms. Lewis, who also is an Advance Woman of Achievement. "It was like
all the ancestors were embracing all of us -- it just felt like
something that was so significant."
Among those who attended the screening were a busload of Civil War
re-enactors, who also appeared in the fourth part of the series, and
who arrived in unison from Philadelphia.
Several of them expressed having had a similar, meaningful
experience during the course of the filming.
"Every time you put a uniform on, you can feel what they feel," said
Joseph Lee, of the 3rd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment. "It's
something that doesn't go away."
By Yoav Gonen
Reprinted here with permission from the
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